Memoirs of the Week Issue #3: 14/10/2013 - 18/10/13

Author's Note:

I'm afraid to announce that this weeks 'Memoirs of the Week' only has opinions about two happenings, as opposed to the five that I traditionally do. This is due to the review for BEYOND: Two Souls that I'm currently in the process of writing and hope to share with you guys in the next few days. Until that surfaces, I've had to sacrifce a portion of this episode to accomodate my time effectively. I do still hope you enjoy the read however and of course leave your thoughts in the comments below and I'll get involved in discussions with you.

TRIPLE A DELAY - WATCH DOGS, THE CREW AND DRIVECLUB

My Response:

In many ways, the news surrounding Watch Dogs didn't come as a huge blow . I’ve spoke on many occasions recently that the phenomenal success for Grand Theft Auto V will contribute heavily towards whether next-gen launches are successful. Grand Theft Auto Online will keep a plentiful amount of players (those who stayed past its unpleasant launch period) gazing at few additional gaming options heading into the Christmas season. The only title I’m hypothesizing will keep relatively great sales over the next couple of months is Call of Duty: Ghosts, largely due to its consistent sales figures and supportive network. Other titles such as BEYOND: Two Souls, Batman: Arkham Origins and many others are going to surface sale stings

Although we’ve been told Watch Dogs has been held back for ‘polishing’, I actually believe Ubisoft have been smart enough to notice the larger influence Grand Theft Auto V is having and decided to hold Watch Dogs back from the market until the hysteria has blown over slightly. Besides, Watch Dogs was always going to be a direct challenger towards Rockstar’s mammoth and as much as a new I.P to launch alongside a new system was very appealing, I wonder how many people would be willing to jump into another sandbox game alongside/after GTAV.

Of course Ubisoft will also have one eye on sales figures. We also heard this week that both Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Rayman Legends both underperformed when released in August, perhaps largely due to the opinion that many people were saving their £’s for GTA the following month, so to have both Watch Dogs and Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag out simultaneously may have proved difficult in sales. I do think that moving Watch Dogs could demonstrate to be a genius decision from the publisher, leaving Black Flag as the primary Autumn release – a series that has always finished well in that quarter. I just think the stresses about the delay amongst gamers and industry professionals is largely due to Watch Dogs looking like the most exciting launch release. I for one however am still as excited to see the final product on next gen consoles and I’m more than willing to wait a little longer in order to see the title breathe easier.

I’m least effected by the news surrounding The Crew and Driveclub simply because I’m not a big consumer of racing titles. I haven’t seen anything from the Crew since it’s reveal at E3 this year, which I thought promised big things, so its delay isn’t as provoking as Watch Dogs but yet again, I’m interested in seeing more from the game closer to its actual release.

As for Driveclub, I’m worried how that game will now perform.I haven’t been overly excited for the game since its announcement back in February at the Playstation IV reveal conference.I suspected the game would perform well at launch because it wouldn’t have an excess of games in its category to challenge it in the market. Delaying the game further is now going to hurt its sales and Sony and Evolution studios need to ensure the game is the ‘best racer on Playstation IV’. I liked the process of given the PlaystationPlus edition of the game at launch to those who carry the PS+ subscription – although how much of the game you’d receive I don’t think was announced but I feel releasing the game in 2014 won’t do it any justice when consumers are beginning to look at other releases. It’s not even on my radar right now.

DAMON LINDELOF LEAVES TWITTER

My Response:

To some, not news, but to others, like me, who followed the LOST writer/executive producer on Twitter, I was saddened by his departure. I loved LOST. I watched the show faithfully for six years. The only episode I missed – though I managed to catch up via a DVD release was Season 1: Episode 12: All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues because of a trip I had to the United States at the time. The show was a central reference point for a number of assignments I wrote at University which allowed me to explore the world of LOST in greater detail.

To witness heavy criticism from ‘fans’ – though I imagine many people who tweeted Lindelof over the last three years never watched more than two episodes and just ‘followed the circus’, is just extremely unsettling. To see Lindelof write an open letter to those ‘fans’ who criticized him last month after the Breaking Bad finale, commenting “That’s how you end a series,” was just unnecessary because a) LOST is his creation and he doesn’t need to clarify his decisions, particularly when there’s logic to the final episode he’d written and B) because he isn’t going to win that majority over. His letter/apology would have just fuelled the flame more because he’s been intimidated repeatedly to respond.

What really displeases me presently is that the percentage of fans who have supported Lindelof since the finale of LOST have been compressed by essentially a witch hunt that will no doubt hurt any reprisal of the title returning in some format. LOST has so much potential as the next big Trans-media text, following examples such as Star Wars and The Matrix, but this growing power that an audience has in a social media age is just damaging creative flames, leaving writers like Lindelof with no real chance of striding forward.

Though Lindelof won’t be reading this statement that I’ve written, I’d like to continue to express gratitude for the impact he’s had on television and popular culture. I wish him all the luck moving forward and I’ll no doubt watch with interest what his next movie/television series is because as long as he continues to challenge the medium, I’ll be eating out the palm of his hands.

So what is your view on the numerous announcements on Next-Gen Delay? Will you put your purchase on Hiatus? Can Driveclub still succeed on Playstation IV? Be sure to leave your open opinions in the comments below and I'll be sure to discuss any questions you may have.